Haptic Rewards: How Mobile Vibrations Shape Reward Response and Consumer Choice

Abstract People spend a large portion of their day interacting with vibrating mobile devices, yet how consumers psychologically respond to haptic feedback from these devices and their effect on consumer decision-making is largely unknown. Integrating recent work on human-computer interaction and reward processing, the current research examines: (1) the relationship between vibration duration and reward response, (2) to what extent rewarding vibrations influence consumer choice, (3) the process by which this effect occurs, and (4) how the effect differs compared to other forms of feedback (visual and audio). We find that mobile vibrations evoke a reward response that is distinct from other forms of feedback, which in turn boosts purchasing in online shopping environments (increased item adds and higher basket totals), and that impulsive consumers tend to be more responsive to mobile vibrations. We examine the impact of mobile vibrations on consumer decision-making in a variety of experimental settings, drawing on a diverse participant pool, leveraging both controlled experiments, and a country-wide field experiment to assess important boundary conditions. These findings have important implications for the ethical design of haptic interfaces in the marketplace and the role of mobile vibrations as a novel form of reward.